Apple Shampoo and a Faint Vanilla Something
by TheRoseShadow21
Summary: Somehow , he had always known.But he couldn't quite match the idea of "dead" with the girl he had known. Second flashback oneshot from "Smiling Again"


**So, here is the second flashback one-shot .I've been busy on my multichapter stories and various other real life things, hence the gap between uploads.**

**I hope you enjoy ^^**

After he did the deed, he turned to Mei, to tell her they should go around to the front. To Chibiki-san, Teshigawara, Mochizuki and the other survivors. To safety. Instead, he was faced with a furious Mei.

"Mei-san?"

"I told you to stay away." Her face was set in anger.

He was still shaking, couldn't do anything. All he could do was repeat her name.

"Mei-san." He was shaking, shocked at what he had done. But that didn't stop him from noticing her crying. He wanted to reach out, discover what was wrong. But even before he opened his mouth, she gave an answer.

"If you…if you hadn't been my friend, Kouichi-san, then it wouldn't matter…it wouldn't matter…but…."With each hysterical word, she stepped closer to him. The sentences dried out .The world stopped.

Well, that's what it felt like, every time she stepped that close to him. It was like she didn't have a clue about personal space. For a moment, he wondered if she was going to hurt him .But she didn't, and after what felt like an age of her glaring, she stepped back, the expression melted away. The one replacing it wasn't any softer.

Kouichi wondered what to do next. He had never seen Mei like this. He was sued to her showing her emotions in a quiet, subdued yet no less passionate way. This wasn't like her.

"Mei-san, what's wrong? Why are you like this?"

"Because…she was your aunt. If you hadn't interfered, I would have returned her to the dead, you wouldn't even have to remember you'd lost her twice. You'd only remember the one time. If you had listened, you'd have less of the pain."

A light switched on in his brain.

"I see." Then he gave a small smile. "Mei-san, sometimes you can be silly. "

Mei gave a blank look. Kouichi gestured with his hand for her to come a little closer. She obeyed.

"We're friends, aren't we?"

Mei nodded. Kouichi also made a step forward.

He continued. "That means we don't abandon each other in times of need. It means that we can share the pain. "He pulled her closer  
"And you know what's hurting me the most? The fact that you are hurting. So really, the fact I interfered wasn't a bad thing, it was done with the intention of decreasing your pain, rather than increasing mine."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he blushed, wondering if he had sounded too mushy. Mei didn't seem to think so, as her mouth formed a small smile.

"That's….sweet. Really sweet. And altruistic." Then, as an afterthought, she tilted her head in a questioning manner and then asked. "Is altruistic the right word?"

Kouichi smiled; glad to see some of Mei's cuter traits appear again.

"Well…"

Next thing he knew, Mei had pressed her lips against his. At that moment, the world around him faded, yet he could hear every sound around him. The rain, the roar of the fire nearby, the place where they had been staying for the school summer trip falling, the sounds of both his heartbeat and hers. He closed his eyes and kissed her back.  
He could smell Mei's apple shampoo and a faint vanilla something. Perfume, or body cream, maybe? He couldn't help thinking, how did she end up being the non-existent student, exactly? She was the most real person he had ever met.

When they stepped away from each other, Kouichi was surprised to realise not that much time had passed. He looked at Mei; she was blinking, and looked as dazed as he felt, trying to figure out , what , exactly had happened. Or rather, how best to proceed from that high-emotion moment.

He decided that now was the right time to get away from here, finally get to safety. He was about to reach for her hand when his lungs flashed an angry red and his world went black.

…

Somehow, from the moment he had woken in the hospital with Mei's name on his lips, he had known. Not consciously, but somehow, he had known. It was only at this point, here, sitting on the swing in the park with Naoya Teshigawara and Yuuya Mochizuki, that the unconscious certainty became real.

Yuuya, who had broken the news , looked worriedly at his friend.

"Sakakibara-kun, are you OK?"

Naoya looked quizzically at Kouichi.

"Hey, are you really saying all this time you didn't know?" Kouichi stared blankly at both his friends .What was he supposed to say?

Naoya sighed, and waved a hand in front of Kouichi blank face.

"Hey, are you in there?Hey, Sakaki?" he called.

Yuuya poked Naoya angrily.

"He's shocked. If he had known already, he wouldn't be shocked. Leave him a bit."

"Ok, Ok." All 3 sat in silence, waiting for an idea to change the subject. Naoya gave another quizzical look at Kouichi.

"You know, he doesn't look too good." he said.

Yuuya agreed. "He looks…."

"Like a stone." Naoya finished the sentence. He turned his attention to Kouichi.

"Hey, Sakaki, mate. Are you there? Give us a sign you are there. Please?"

Kouichi didn't move. Dead. Mei Misaki, dead. Somehow, that sentence failed to register with him. This was Mei they were talking about. Mei Misaki, The girl who had loved her twin sister more than anyone, who was good at art but preferred looking at it, who had a fake green eye hidden under an eye patch , who thought ready meals were a normal teenage thing, who hated mobiles , who thought the squid that attached itself to her arm was going to eat her , who he'd daydreamed about dancing with , who he had actually danced with, who had let him comb her hair for her one rainy day ,who had a smile that was blindingly bright despite it being small , who looked beautiful all the time , even when creepy. The girl who was more real than anyone he'd ever met, anything that had happened to him since coming to Yomiyama. How could she be dead?  
Yet somehow he had realised she was dead. And he knew Yuuya and Naoya would never lie to him about something like this.

He looked up at them, trying to reconcile the real life now with the real girl who was not there any longer.

"Apple shampoo and a faint vanilla something." The memory tumbled out of his mouth. Naoya and Yuuya gave him a quizzical look.

"That doesn't make sense, Sakaki."

"At least he said something!This means he'll be fine. "Yuuya protested.

"Still, it made no sense."

"You're being picky, Teshigawara-kun!"

Any other day, any other situation, Kouichi would have laughed. Today, all he could do was remember everything. Starting with the apple shampoo.

**Hope you enjoyed!**


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